When the reigning Miss USA, Noelia Voigt, introduced this week she could be resigning from her place, she cited her psychological well being and wrote about her gratitude for the chance.
“As people, we develop via experiencing various things in life that lead us to studying extra about ourselves,” she wrote on Instagram on Monday.
However an inside resignation letter by Ms. Voigt to Miss USA management and the Miss Universe Group, obtained on Friday by The New York Occasions, introduced a a lot darker image.
Within the eight-page letter, Ms. Voigt, who represented the state of Utah and was topped in September, described “a poisonous work surroundings inside the Miss USA Group that, at greatest, is poor administration and, at worst, is bullying and harassment.” She additionally complained in her letter that the group had delayed making good on her prize winnings.
The Miss USA Group didn’t reply to request for remark.
Ms. Voigt’s departure has spurred not less than two different resignations. UmaSofia Srivastava, Miss Teen USA, introduced she was stepping down from her position on Wednesday. Arianna Lemus, who represented Colorado at Miss USA in 2023, stated on Friday she was resigning in solidarity after seeing Ms. Voigt’s publish.
“That was a name to assist,” Ms. Lemus, 27, stated in an interview.
The sudden departures have touched off wider hypothesis within the pageant world that topped winners are legally barred from talking freely about their experiences with the Miss USA Group. Lots of Ms. Voigt’s previous rivals, together with Ms. Lemus, shared an announcement demanding that she be launched from any nondisclosure agreements.
In her resignation letter, Ms. Voigt stated she skilled an incident of sexual harassment when, throughout a Christmas parade final yr in Sarasota, Fla., a driver made inappropriate feedback towards her.
She stated in her letter that the group didn’t assist her when she reported the incident.
Ms. Voigt went on to write down that serving as Miss USA took a toll on her well being, including that she now struggled with anxiousness and took remedy to handle her signs.
She stated she had begun experiencing “coronary heart palpitations, full physique shakes, lack of urge for food, unintentional weight reduction, lack of sleep, lack of hair and extra.”
Some folks believed Ms. Voigt’s Instagram publish asserting her resignation contained a secret message. The primary letter of every of the primary 11 sentences of the assertion spell the phrase “I AM SILENCED,” which some have interpreted as a sign that Ms. Voigt is unable to talk brazenly about her expertise.
Only a few days after Ms. Voigt’s announcement, Ms. Srivastava, who was topped Miss Teen USA in 2023, additionally resigned from her publish.
“After cautious consideration, I’ve determined to resign as I discover that my private values not absolutely align with the route of the group,” Ms. Srivastava, who represented the state of New Jersey on the Miss Teen USA pageant in September, wrote on Instagram.
Her publish included a quote from the German thinker Friedrich Nietzsche: “There are not any lovely surfaces and not using a horrible depth.”
“I do know all of us who love this system wish to rush out and do one thing,” Laylah Rose, the president and chief govt of the Miss USA Group, wrote in an e mail to The Occasions earlier this week, concerning Ms. Voigt’s and Ms. Srivastava’s resignations. “My objective is to offer really useful steps we will take collectively.”
“Our all-encompassing objective at Miss USA is to have a good time and empower ladies,” Ms. Rose added, saying she was taking “these allegations critically.”
By way of a consultant, each Ms. Srivastava and Ms. Voigt declined to remark, citing a nondisclosure settlement. (A duplicate of the 2023 Miss USA contract obtained by The New York Occasions seems to bar signees from disclosing any details about Miss USA whereas employed by the group.)
After Ms. Voigt’s announcement, a number of of her fellow Miss USA 2023 rivals posted an announcement on Instagram demanding that the Miss USA Group launch Ms. Voigt from any such settlement.
Juliana Morehouse, who competed at Miss USA representing Maine and lives in South Carolina, stated in an interview with The Occasions that the letter originated in a gaggle chat of 2023 individuals who had been “shocked and saddened” to listen to of Ms. Voigt’s resignation. On a Zoom name, they hashed out the message they wished to share in assist of Ms. Voigt.
(Ms. Morehouse didn’t present a precise determine however stated the variety of ladies who wrote and shared the letter comprised a majority of the 51 rivals at Miss USA in 2023.)
Claudia Michelle Engelhardt, who stepped down from her position as social media director for Miss USA this month, stated she felt the Miss USA individuals had been unfairly pressured into signing their contracts.
“It was just about, ‘It’s important to signal this otherwise you’re not going to compete,’” Ms. Engelhardt, 24, stated. “You simply labored your butt off to get right here. You received your state. What, are you not going to go since you don’t wish to signal a contract? They’re mainly holding you hostage, for lack of a greater time period, to signal this contract.”
Ms. Morehouse stated she was given “slightly over 24 hours” to evaluate the contract.
“I don’t assume any of us sought authorized illustration to evaluate it with us,” she stated in an interview with The Occasions. “We had by no means heard of such an ironclad NDA being carried out in earlier years, as a result of this was the primary yr of the brand new management.” (Ms. Rose grew to become president of the group final yr.)
She emphasised that whereas her private expertise with Miss USA was a constructive one, she hoped talking out would make sure that was the case for all individuals sooner or later.
Ms. Lemus, the previous Miss Colorado USA, stated she noticed some irony in how Miss USA gave the impression to be working.
“This is a corporation that preaches ladies’s empowerment,” she stated.
